By Kim Rahn
Police have rounded up 22 Koreans who worked at a brothel in Japan or who brokered prostitution.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Thursday that it booked six pimps, including 35-year-old Choi, and 16 Korean women who worked as prostitutes there, without physical detention. Police also sought cooperation from the Japanese police in catching two Japanese nationals, including a 45-year-old woman surnamed Suzuki, the brothel owner in Tokyo.
Choi and the other pimps arranged employment at the brothel for the women, telling them that their identity would not be disclosed in the foreign country and they would make 30 million won per month. The pimps earned some 100 million won as commission since March last year, for six months, police said.
Suzuki, a former Korean naturalized in Japan, made 1 billion won in one year since August last year through the Korean prostitutes.
“For some of the women, their sex scenes were secretly recorded by some Japanese clients and the video clips were spread across the world through the Internet. Those women suffered from depression and have received mental treatment,” a police officer said.
Rather than the “30 million won in monthly gains,” the women have become indebted by about 6-10 million won each, to the brothel owner and the pimps, as they were lent the money by the pimps at high interest rates for flight fares, plastic surgery and cell phone expenses, according to police.